A person claiming to be the ringleader of a group that says it abducted a California woman last week in an attempt to get a ransom has backed away from a threat to police to apologize for calling it a hoax.

The lawyer for a Vallejo woman who claims she was kidnapped says her story is no hoax. In fact, her attorney told the public Thursday night that Denise Huskins’ kidnapping was not staged, as police had previously reported.